A dual-OS Steam Machine from Origin PC

Boutique gaming PC-maker Origin PC is one of the companies throwing its weight behind Valve's new Steambox initiative, showing off a small form factor system that runs the new Steam OS.

Origin PC is planning two versions of its Steam Machine (as this first round of boxes is being referred to), both part of the company's existing Chronos line of smaller gaming desktops -- a standard edition and a dual-video-card SLI edition with up to a pair of Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan graphics cards and liquid cooling for the CPU.

Unlike some of the other Steambox hardware that's been announced from other PC makers, Origin PC's Chronos will be highly customizable, with options for CPU, graphics, and storage, and these machines will dual-boot into either Windows 7 or 8, and Steam OS, allowing you to use them as powerful gaming desktops, or living room Steam consoles.

CNET/Sarah Tew

The Chronos Steam Machine will also include Valve's innovative Steam controller, which replaces thumb sticks with twin touch pads designed to mimic the control of a keyboard and mouse.

There's no firm release date or price yet, but we're hearing the first Steambox systems will launch in Summer 2014.

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Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of laptops, desktops, and Windows tablets, while also writing about games, gadgets, and other topics. A former radio DJ and member of Mensa, he's written about music and technology for more than 15 years, appearing in publications including Spin, Blender, and Men's Journal.